Because an hour ⏰ is not enough! In conjunction with Earth hour, Zero Waste Malaysia joined together with Sampah Menyampah; Kaki Repair at The School organizing a series of sustainable related activities.
The event covered Zero Waste Market and a zero waste mini exhibition by us, Zero Waste Malaysia, DIY repair stations, a Makers Lab, book and clothes swaps, composters and vermicomposting sharing, sustainable art and craft and upcycled games by children for the kid 👶 in all of us.
On the first day of Earth Weekend, Carolyn together with Mareena, the heroes 🦸 of Sampah Menyampah launched the Tak Nak Single Use Plastic campaign after Tak Nak Straw which was launched a year ago. *Tak Nak means No in English!
Let’s dive right in to the overall activities that carried out by us. As usual, we had our signature zero waste concept market featuring 23 vendors with up to 200+ zero waste alternatives – which was more than what we have on our previous Malaysia’s First Zero Waste Fest – 15 vendors. We’re grateful to gain more attentions from businesses who started to manage their businesses in a more sustainable way! The voice of consumers indeed is a powerful tool!
Asides from zero waste market, we had our zero waste mini exhibition at one of the space featuring zero waste on the go, zero waste bathroom and personal care, & zero waste kitchen. Participants usually enjoy this corner a lot as it gives the overview on different alternatives that they can learn from or swap towards a more sustainable options.
With the help of 40+ volunteers, we also managed to fit in extra events such as books swap managed by book crossing club and clothes swap. By having both swaps on different day respectively, we hope to initiative community sharing culture rather than buying new things.
Besides, we also had 8 food trucks parked outside The School to cater yummy delicious food to all. We did face some challenges at the beginning on searching food truck vendors who are willing to do in zero waste style – which means no single use container or utensil will be provided. However, we’re pretty lucky enough to have 8 food vendors who signed up to show their interest ⭐.
In fact, our role was also making sure that the whole event should be as less wasteful as possible. Our goal – ZERO waste! Here’re some of the initiatives that we have implemented during the event to keep it as low waste as possible.
- Water refill station is placed at the venue to provide free drinking water for public so that they can refill with their own reusable water bottle.
- Food composter is arranged nearby the food truck area so that any potential organic waste can be turned into rich nutrient soil. *fact: 50% of waste produced in Malaysia is organic waste that can potentially be composted.
- Cutlery & plates rental station is set up to serve the public who just happened to forget bringing their own reusable utensils or plates.
- No dustbin – We removed dustbin around the event venue to deliver a message of trying our best to avoid any trash.
The overall event was a successful one with more than 1000+ participants. It’s believed to be an overwhelming one with so many various activities going around. Refer to the fest impact report here. We love how the community grows stronger day by day and hopefully throughout the whole nation 🌎.
Contributor: Sue Yee
Event Date: 24 March 2018 – 25 March 2018